Mother’s Got A Dot Com

We’ve been working for this for quite some time… and suddenly, this Monday, we were called in for a meeting, and asked if we could start in a week. That is, this coming Monday.

Start what? I hear you ask.

We’re going to take in young drop-outs on a daily basis on our little farm, in cooperation with the company that hubby works for, and the Norwegian social services.

So, this week has been rather hectic. The maximum number of kids is 15, and some of them will remain in town, to be guided in the complex world of education, apprenticeships and work experience. We’ve spent the week getting the local in town ready for them. The remainder of the group will come to us. We’ll have all sorts of activities, ranging from horseback riding, animal care, gardening, building, to cooking and crafts.

We know very little about their backgrounds, interests and challenges. Some may have psychological issues, some may have family problems. We’ll just have to learn as we go, and offer activities adapted to their individual levels of social and other skills, interests, and so on. Some may be hard put to get up in the morning, some will be rearing to go…

The first week, we’ll all be in town, getting to know each other, which gives us another week until they all come here. During that time, we’ll know more about what sort of activities are suited for them as well – and we’ll have time to do the finishing touches on the farm.

Exciting prospects, and it gives working from home a brand new meaning. Hubby will be spending most of his time here, as will I. We’ll both be earning good wages, and have an income from letting out the farm as well. So – in addition to making a difference (or so we hope) to people, our own financial quality of life will receive a major boost. Not a second too soon, to be honest.

I’m very, very excited – please wish us luck!

Oh, dear. Nothing since September. I don’t know if I can even remember how to write English correctly any longer. Not to mention Wordpress.

#1 Brat has come home from Africa, safe and sound, with loads of experiences in her luggage, as well as local crafts for everyone for Christmas. #2 Brat is well on the way with her design studies in Denmark – she’s a bit frustrated with the lack of structure within the school, but I guess that’s what you get when you choose a life within “the arts”…

Christmas has come and gone. It was the whitest in living memory around here, by Christmas Day we had around 20 inches of the white stuff. Since then, the temperatures have been stuck in the -20 – - 30 C, but yesterday spring arrived, and we’re now enjoying relative warmth with a measly -10. We did get one mildish day during the Christmas period too, and that’s when we went and did this:

Which was great fun, and a real dive into Winter Wonderland.

A very happy New Year to all!

I’m looking forward to 2010.

Photo: courtesy of Christina Aakervik

For those of you who read Norwegian (bwahahaha), allow me to introduce #1Brat’s blog – Hakuna Matata.

For those of you who don’t, I shall give you a brief summary:

The children think the three weird looking whities (mzungu) are the best thing since toasted bread. They are very much in need of physical contact and cuddles, and try to braid the girls’ hair whenever they can get their hands on it. The food is good, and preparing it is time consuming. (I hope we’ll be in for a treat when she gets home. Blogger’s note).

Every Wednesday and Thursday, the electricity is shut down, mainly to save water. Which means that the toilet is moved to a hole in the ground. They’ve been there just over a week, and they find this quite natural, and in some ways, better than the WC.

They’ve been off on excursions, on hired (manned) motorbikes, and in a local “bus” (matatu), which is a Hiace type vehicule, meant for 12-14, where one somehow manages to cram in 21… They’ve been searching for a working ATM (which took most of a day), and been to a giraffe sanctuary. They also tried to attend Sunday service, which this Sunday lasted from 9am to 3pm, as there was some sort of convention going on. They gave up after a while, but luckily, no one was offended.

The experience of being the “odd man out”, and being stared at, is new, slightly irritating, and gives food for thought.

Anything else? I don’t know if there is time for homesickness – I hope not. I wish my Brat all the best in this experience, and hope she makes friends for life. I’m sure she will fall in love with Africa – I believe most people do, once they’ve been there.

Stay safe, little girl, and enjoy!

This blog has been on holiday. I blame it on summer, Brats being home all the time, and a broken ankle.

The Brats are now back to school/travelling/have moved abroad. The ankle is still broken – that is: it’s been operated upon, fixed with several spare parts, and is not to be used for walking for another 4 weeks. Yours truly is moving about in a borrowed wheelchair, as crutches leaves one with no hands. No feet is quite enough, thank you!

I insert a pic taken on the occasion – for the squeamish amongst you: please don’t squeam, just scroll down.

And now, one taken 5 days later, after op # 2. (scroll on, scroll on…)

That was one summer well spent, I can tell you! This happened 3 days before our scheduled holiday, so I was popular with the Brats for a while too. Luckily, I was cooped up in hospital for a week and a half, so I avoided the ritual beheading that is fitting in those circumstances.

We’ve sent #2 Brat off to Denmark, together with a carload of stuff, most of which had no practical use, but loads of sentimental value. I remember the feeling… She’s now installed with her mattress, tiny table and sewing machine in a big, empty room. She has a kitchen with applyances, and a bathroom, so the basics are looked after. She also has to manage her own finances. Did I mention that I remember the feeling?

#1 Brat left for Kenya on Sunday. She is 20, so I had left most of the investigating to her. The result was that I got a name and contact number from her co-travellers at the airport… Back home, I googled the name, and found an amazing woman, Sarah Ngotho, who runs the Joy Children’s home near Nairobi. Please take the time to read her story, and about the home itself. # 1 Brat will work there as a volunteer for 4 months, while paying for her room and board. I believe this is one way these homes (and there are many of them!) manage to keep financially afloat. She’s worked all summer to be able to do this. Anyway – she’s arrived, is safe and sound, and probably in the midst of the experience of a lifetime.

What else? Hubby has a new job. He’s released from the slave labor camp he was in, and has got a job for a company who helps people to get back into the workplace. The pay is OK, and the hours are wonderfully adapted to family life. The bonus is that our little farm may be involved too. We have toyed with the idea for some time, of offering the use of this place for rehabilitation through activity/farm work/socializing. It looks as if this is now going to happen. Fingers crossed.

# 3 Brat has started his apprenticeship to become a carpenter, and # 4 has just started her first year in our equivalent to High School. # 5 is in second grade, and # 6 has just turned 3, and is insisting that he’s being home schooled…

That’s about it from here, I think. Oh, yes – it’s been a wet one.

Summer is upon us. Tentatively, at least. The horses are on holiday – they were sent off to green pastures the other day. Two of them have gone off to be summer camp horses, we’ll see how that goes. The Brats will soon all be on holiday too, which, for me, means more of same old, only with 6 brats 24/7, and without the break of having 5 of them in school during the day…

With summer comes a recurring phaenomenon here at Brat Camp home base. The old name of our area is Iron Valley. This has a reason. It used to be a place where iron was extracted. We draw our water from far down in the rock, and there’s always a hint of iron in it, but in the summer it becomes very apparent. Our faucets clog up, and we have to dismantle them every now and then to remove iron fragments from the filters. I’m guessing that we’ll have to replace them one by one, as the clogging up takes its toll. I’ve thought of putting in something upmarket, like Kohler faucets, but to be honest, I don’t think it would matter. I’d end up having to replace them too, and be beating myself up for not having put in something cheaper.

The lambs are growing – shoot, I promised pictures. They’ll be let out soon – they’re big enough now to not go through the fence. Pictures, I said. Well, I haven’t been able to upload any for some time, as Firefox crashes every time I try. Does anyone know why that is?

I’m working in IE right now, and I’d rather not, but at least I can upload pictures, as this Miracle Boy self-portrait shows.

I’ve finally found time to take a trip to the cabin this weekend – turning the heating off is, if nothing else, an economical thing to do. Even up there, the danger of frozen pipes has somewhat subsided by now. Alone? No. 3 Brats will be in tow. And my cousin is coming, possibly bringing another 2. Oh, joy!

Since I’ve shared my little domestic woes with you all, I thought I’d bring you up to date with the geysir situation. (For the uninitiated: I’ve had trouble with my water heater gushing hot water on and off for quite some time. Nothing has helped. I’ve had a pressure valve replaced, I’ve given the whole pressure tank system a going over, I’ve had a hose attached to the **** thing to minimize the damage, I’ve listened to more ABBA tunes on plumbers’ phone services than most of you have had hot dinners. To no avail. No one has been able to tell me what was wrong).

Plumber alert is off. Theory # 1 is back in circulation. What, say you, is Theory # 1? Well, it has to do with #6Brat, strangely enough. As the hose on the pressure valve got totally out of control the other day, and I had to turn the heater off completely, I also turned the water intake to the thing off. And what happened when I was half way? No more gushing. I turned the electricity back on, had my shower, and came back to check the situation – nothing. It seems like Theory # 1, involving #6Brat and his busy little fingers, must have been right all along. The water valve is just at 2-year-old-level (must have been designed by a man), and fairly easy to twist.

As of now, I’m holding my thumbs, and I’ve taped the knob stuck in it’s current position. Just like the freezer thermostat, the knobs on the DVD and VHS players, TV and stereo system. And the stove. This place looks like an ad for packageing tape. The only problem is that I don’t have a remote control for the stove, so I have to unwrap it every time.

Oh, well. I hope he’ll gain some sense as he grows older.

I don’t seem to have much to say to the world these days. I think I may be in the grips of some sort of depression – and that’s all I’m going to say on the matter. Which, of course, is probably part of the problem. A session with a shrink, in my case, would be a rather quiet hour. Might be nice, actually – a whole hour to think things through, without interruptions.
Businesswise, things are not too bad. I have my share of home parties, and I earn a nice little bundle every time. I think this is something I’m going to be doing for some time, so I’ve ordered some business cards. The custom rubber stamps I’ve been using so far are fine for filling out order forms, but it’s nice to be able to annoy people by giving them useless pieces of paper…

I also do translation and proofreading work to the tune of 6-700$ per month, which is not too bad, and it pays the electricity bill. Hubby is working far too much, and getting far too little reward for what he’s doing, so every little bit helps.

Summer holiday? Don’t think so. Hubby will be lucky if he manages to get every other weekend off. Right now, life sucks quite a bit. The Brats are rays of sunshine though. Just thought I’d mention it.

It’s been a busy month so far. Getting #1Brat home from school, hubby starting his summer work-marathon (6 or seven day weeks, 10 hours a day), May 17. (National Day), planning a surprise-party for my uncle’s 60th birthday on the 21st, a confirmation to go to tomorrow, and trying (to no avail, as it turned out today) to figure out why the **** the water-heater can’t stop gushing water all over the place. It probably won’t stop until it’s electrocuted someone, and as I’m usually the one standing bare-foot in water, scratching my head and touching all sorts of knobs, I’m the likely candidate.

Oh, yes, and we invited 8 people over for a barbecue this evening. I hope they won’t need a shower, because I’m planning to turn the **** thing off as soon as I’ve had mine. We thought we had it sussed, you see. But that only worked until the next time plumbers took a day off (today). I wonder what plumbers do the rest of the week? Nothing ever breaks or leaks on Monday – Friday. Not in the houses of anyone I know, anyway.

And now it’s clouding over. As if we haven’t got enough water indoors… Never mind, we’ve barbecued in pouring rain before. It’s just a question of taking a stand, and sticking to it. Your back gets drenched, as the parasol has to cover the actual barbecue, but whatever – it’s summer in Norway. Gotta love it.

The following is a surrepticious link – mesothelioma. Not something I like to blog about – or even think about. Yes, we’re all going one way or another, but I think I’d rather be electrocuted by a water heater. If at all possible though – not this week, Ô Grim Reaper.

Done with the research. Boy, was that enlightening. And very, very scary.

My first thought when I saw the words Colonix reviews, was: A new Asterix comic book!

Great! I’ve got them all. Ever since my childhood in France, I’ve chuckled at the names of the characters. In French, they all end in -ix. Assurancetourix (All risk insurance), Aplusbégalix (a+b=x), Panoramix (Panoramic), and so on and so forth.

Colonix, however, was a new one… A Gall with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, perhaps?

What’s more, I was way off the mark. Try googling it, and see all the scary stuff that turns up. With pictures. One guy recorded his experiences during weeks of using the stuff. With pictures. And we’re talking colonic cleansing here, people.

Is the poking and probing compulsory? Or is just flushing the normal way acceptable behaviour? I don’t think I dare find out. By the way – the review isn’t very good.

It seems that my partner in blogging, who provides me with a regular flow of keywords to blog about, has got a spasmodic problem.

This is not a) a medical blog or b) a diet blog. I only very casually touch on health issues – and I mostly do it to complain. You know – about aching joints, saggy skin, other saggy things – whatever my ever-increasing age throws at me.

Dieting is of very little interest to me. I can stretch to nutrition, but I don’t want to get too healthy, as the homes for the elderly are such undignified places in this country, that I really want to kick the bucket before anyone feels the need to put me in one.

The spasmodic problem of my blogging partner? The ever recurring best diet pill. I could probably just pop the keywords in anywhere, and go about my ramblings as usual, but I have this thing about delivering the goods. So now I’ve done it. Please excuse me now, while I go and do some research on the next weird word constellation.